noun
cafeteria
kaf-uh-TEER-ee-uh/ˌkæfəˈtɪriə/
A dining place where people collect their own food.
The students choose food from the cafeteria counter.
Etymology
The pieces originally described a coffee shop, not a method of serving food. The word later shifted to a self-service dining establishment, and its ending acquired a popular 'help-yourself' association.
In context
you'd have a cafeteria and they the cafeteria i mean all the food you could get a three-course i think sunday uh lunch
More examples
- Students carried trays through the cafeteria.
- We met at a table in the cafeteria.
- The office cafeteria closed after lunch.
Forms
cafeteria · cafeterias
Similar words
- dining hall
- A room for communal meals, not necessarily self-service.
- canteen
- A related dining facility, especially in institutional contexts.